The court said, ”Ravi did not get sweat equity in Gorkha media, he bought it.”

Ravi Lamichhane, the then managing director of Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd., who was accused of defrauding the savings of Swarnalakshmi Cooperative in Kathmandu, was released from prison on Wednesday on a bond of 60 lakhs. On the basis of the fact that he opened a loan account in the name of Lamichhane and Gitendrababu (GB) Rai and took money from Swarnalakshmi Cooperative, the court demanded bail from him as it could not be said that he is not a criminal.

Kathmandu District Court’s order

• The defendant (Ravi Lamichhane) applied to buy 180 thousand shares of Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd and took the shares. ;
• It was found that an account was opened in Global IME Bank
• When Lamichhane was the managing director, Gorkha Media Network, which was not a member of Swarnalakshmi Multi-Purpose Cooperative, received funds from the cooperative. 98 thousand and 46 lakh 48 thousand were taken under the title of ‘Eco Seven Seater Loan’
• It was seen that a loan of 90 million 16 thousand 660 rupees was paid to Swarnalakshmi Sahakari from a check cut from Lamichhane’s signature.
• It was seen that the amount was paid in the name of different people in the single signature of Lamichhane from the account of Gorkha Media Network. After examining the evidence, we will take a bond of Rs.
• Lamichhane was released from prison after paying the bail after the order given by the bench of Judge Madhav Prasad Adhikari after four days of testimony and post-custody debate. Lamichhane did not take ‘sweat shares’ in Gorkha Media but applied for the purchase of shares and signed checks before and after becoming the managing director.
• ‘It was seen that the defendant (Ravi Lamichhane) applied to buy 180 thousand shares of Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd.’ It was found that the Global IME account has been put into operation.’ There is a court order that it appears that the money came from the cooperative. Lamichhane and Gorkha Media president Gitendrababu Rai opened a loan account in Swarnalakshmi Cooperative in the name of Rs. It is also mentioned in the order that it has been paid. 
• The court said that Lamichhane was directly involved in the operation of the account even though he stated that he did not know anything about the money coming from Swarnalakshmi Sahakari to Gorkha Media’s account. 

“When Lamichhane was the Managing Director, it was seen that money was received from the cooperative in the account of Gorkha Media Network, which is not a member of Swarnalakshmi Multi-Purpose Cooperative Organization,” the order said, “When it is seen that the money was paid in the name of different people under the single signature of Lamichhane, Lamichhane is now guilty in the case presented. The

order says, ‘Considering the nature of the case presented In the course of the proceedings of the case, for the purpose of preliminary investigation, the defendant Ravi Lamichhane will be given a cash bond of Rs On December 21, a case was filed against 39 people including Lamichhane in the Kathmandu District Court. 2 billion 41 crores have been claimed against them. 

Former Attorney General Raman Shrestha, Sushil Pant and Advocate Suraj Basnet argued in favor of Swarnalakshmi cooperative fraud. Senior advocates Surendra Bhandari and Dinesh Tripathi, on behalf of Zaherwala, prepared to write the order at 3:30 pm after the counterargument. Lamichhane’s supporters beat Tripathi who came out after the debate. “When I tried to go home, there was a huge crowd outside the court.

There, some YouTubers started questioning me,’ he said, ‘while talking, I was attacked. By chance, two people who were walking on the road saved me by beating themselves, otherwise I could have died. He said that he was barely able to enter the court because the police arrived immediately. “This is a cowardly act,” Tripathi said, “Raswapa should take charge of it.” District Bar Association issued a statement and condemned the incident. 

Preparation of petition against the order of Kaski court

The draft of the petition to be given to the high court demanding cancellation of the order of Kaski district court judge Nitij Rai, who released 7 people on bail in Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud of Pokhara, including the founding chairman of RSWP Ravi Lamichhane, has reached the office of the High Public Prosecutor. The District Public Prosecutor’s Office has prepared a draft petition and submitted it to the High Public Prosecutor’s Office with a demand for an order to send the seven people to jail for preliminary investigation. 

By District Judge Rai’s order last Thursday, along with Lamichhane, the former Vice President of Gorkha Media, Chavi Lal Joshi, the partners of GB Rai, Ram Bahadur Khanal and Leela Pachai, the former office bearer of Suryadarshan Sahakari, Meena Gurung (former state MP from UML), Krishna Bahadur Gurung and Aarti Gurung were released.

District Court Kaski asked Joshi for 88 lakh, Lamichhane for 65 lakh, Pachai for 37 lakh, Khanal for 15 lakh, Krishna Bahadur Gurung for 1 lakh, Meena Gurung for 5 lakh and Aarti Gurung for 5 lakh. District Attorney Kamala Kafle informed that a draft petition was prepared and submitted to the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Pokhara on Wednesday to cancel the order issued by the district court against all seven of them. 

According to District Attorney Kafle, there are many reasons behind the demand to cancel the order of the district court. “Looking at the overall basis of the impact on the victim, the wrong marks claimed, the punishment that the defendant may face for various crimes, the server seized after the victim’s complaint collected during the investigation, and the errors pointed out by the financial analysis, such crimes should be dealt with in custody,” she said.  Kafle also mentioned that a small amount was taken from the

defendant. “When it appears that the defendants are not guilty from the evidence immediately understood by the Missile, and even when the court has ordered that the defendants are not guilty even from the evidence immediately understood, the court has ordered to release them on bail with very little error, which is erroneous. We have sent a request to cancel it and keep the defendants in jail.’ 

Assistant Attorney and Information Officer of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office Mahesh Aryal informed that the draft of the application submitted by the District Public Prosecutor’s Office is being studied. “Probably by Friday, we will file a petition in the Pokhara High Court,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Suryadarshan Chattapidit Sangharsh Samiti objected that instead of solving the cooperative problem, it is making it more complicated. The Sangharsh Committee alleges that the government, administration, responsible agencies and various parties are involved in complicating the cooperative problem. The Suryadarshan Savings and Victims Committee has demanded an appeal saying that the order and process of releasing the accused of co-operative fraud on bail pending trial is flawed.

‘With this order, there is an increased risk of harming the justice of the cooperative victims. The release of the accused who can influence the government, the regime and the power center has increased the doubt that we co-operative victims will get justice. This issue is not about any personal request-bias, any political influence, profit-loss or any revenge, it is about the justice of us co-operative victims,’ the victim continued on Wednesday. It is mentioned in the statement.

Saying that the order of the district court has caused more pain to the victims, they have demanded more legal remedies on that order. The order seems to be biased towards the co-operative victims. We strongly request the government to proceed with the appeal process for further legal remedies as soon as possible on the order made by the honorable Kaski District Court on 25th December,’ the statement said, ‘We would like to inform you that if there is a delay in changing the subject related to the justice of the entire co-operative victims, all the co-operative victims will unite and start further agitation.